


Five types of hugs (and what they mean to Joe)

by j_obsessed



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: 5 Times, A look at their relationship through the way they hold each other, Confessions, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hugs, I have been sad and this is how I have attempted to fix it, M/M, Mindless Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27915364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_obsessed/pseuds/j_obsessed
Summary: Just a feel-good fic in all honesty.Aus' loss to India has hurt me so... have this.It's a bit tooth rotting, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless <3 I love you all, and hope you've had a good weekend <3
Relationships: Jos Buttler/Joe Root
Comments: 21
Kudos: 19





	Five types of hugs (and what they mean to Joe)

  1. The side hug



This is the way it starts. It is relaxed, like the light rain that falls before the storm. The raindrops that make everything look different. The type of rain that holds in the air, and makes you apprehensive, but excited, about the flashes of lightning you know are about to unfold.

And although it’s only how close friends hug each other, Joe finds that with Jos it’s just _different._ They hug like this all the time. When one is in a good mood, or when they meet each other at the airport, carrying fuckloads of luggage (in Joe’s case) or are busy carrying fuckloads of other people’s luggage (this is Jos, carrying Joe’s shit- without even being asked.)

They pose for photos like this too, Jos’ arm snug around Joe’s shoulder, Joe tucked tightly against Jos’ side. Countless photos, actually, but the one that springs to mind is of them way back in their first test, holding onto each other for a picture in the changerooms. It may not have been romantic, but it always was so very sweet.

Joe loves it. Jos is unabashedly affectionate with him, and that just reinforces to him, how much he means to the keeper. The way he throws his arm around Joe’s shoulders casually if Joe’s disappointed with the outcome of a match, or just while they’re walking out of the ground with kitbags on opposite shoulders so they can just be _close._

He just doesn’t know how Jos would react if he just gave in to his cravings, and pressed his nose into the keeper’s neck, arms coming up over his shoulders so Jos could pick him up and hug him tighter. But when Jos looks at him with sparkling eyes- he already knows somewhere in the back of his mind, that he’ll be able to do that someday. So he waits.

  1. The back hug



When Jos back hugs him, Joe almost sometimes tricks himself into believing that maybe there’s something between them. It’s so comfortable, and it just feels so good to have that kind of contact. The best part about it is that he doesn’t even need to see Jos, to know that it _is_ Jos. He just knows. From how the keeper’s arms come to rest around him, to the way the older blonde laughs, and how his chest feels (more built as of recent…), the cologne he wears, and how he’s just that perfect height.

These ones are especially good when they haven’t seen each other for a long time. The feeling of being back in Jos’ arms after being apart, whether it’s because the keeper is playing in the IPL, or Joe’s off with the test team, or if they’ve just had a long break away from playing cricket, it doesn’t matter.

Having his back pressed up against Jos’ chest, letting his head tip back onto the keeper’s shoulder with a lazy smile, it’s just perfect. They can’t really say ‘fucking hell I have missed the fuck out of you’, not without drawing some very probable unwanted attention, so they go with this.

It clues Joe in a little bit because he doesn’t see Jos do this with anyone else.

The keeper isn’t sneaking up behind Morgs (probably because Morgs is a ninja and has incredible awareness and would see Jos coming from a mile away), or Ben or Alex (definitely not him actually).

He also, sometimes, very rarely, (only if they’ve been apart for a really long time), feels Jos press slightly chapped lips to the nape of his neck, or nose at his hair. Only very gently, but the gestures are definitely there. They make his heart jump.

They aren’t always innocent and sweet, though. Sometimes Jos will come up behind him like this, and then tackle him into the ground while they’re playing football. It’s the keeper’s version of a tackle, even if he is breaking Joe’s fall with his own body, and doing his best to ensure that they both end up safely on the ground.

Joe will allow it, only because it means that he gets to complain, and Jos will simply hug him again.

He loves the attention, loves their closeness, but god does he hate it when Jos lets him go.

  1. The hug + twirling you around



Joe swears on his life that he’ll remember this hug until the day he dies. Of course, every hug with Jos is special, and amazing and makes his heart do little backflips. But this one. This is the one that tells Joe, _hey, look, this is what it means to be in love, this is how it fucking feels, isn’t it fantastic?_

Having Jos back in the test side is something he’s been fucking _waiting for._ Nervously, because of where they left off, but anticipating it nonetheless. Going weeks on end, overseas on tours without him, having to facetime rather than knock on the hotel door, and sometimes needing to apologise because they’re so far away that the time zones don’t match up- that’s not a fun way to live.

So when Jos gets the call, and Joe sees the notification of the YouTube video posted on the ECB channel saying “Buttler’s Back”, you can absolutely bet that there was some uproar.

They’re in the middle of an away series, Joe somewhere on the other side of the world, when his phone gives a little ping at a random unforgivable hour in the morning.

He’s been in jitters all week, so he’s woken easily. When he sees the video, he almost falls out of bed. He doesn’t text Jos a congratulations. Nor does he pick up his phone and call his keeper and tell him how fucking proud he is- even though he really really fucking wants to. That just seems… like not enough.

What he does do, is run and jump straight into his arms the next time he sees him.

(It’s at training for the next test series, against Pakistan a few weeks later, and no one even gives them a second glance.)

Joe can’t exactly remember what he was thinking, but honestly, that’s what made it so _good._ How unexpected it was. How, without even knowing what was going to happen, Jos dropped everything to catch him and hold him tight. 

One moment Joe caught a glimpse of a familiar mop of floppy brown-blonde hair, and the next he’d launched himself in his keeper’s general direction, laughing in disbelief as Jos’ arms secured around his waist. It’s hard to forget the way Jos lifted him up a little, spinning him around until Joe was dizzy (mostly from being back in his love’s arms, but hush).

It’s quite possibly the best thing Joe’s ever experienced in his life. He reflects on it, later that night while he and Jos are doing the dishes together (while he’s staring lovingly at Jos as the keeper does the vessels actually…) and he knows that the memory is going to stick around for a long, long time.

  1. The hug with a shoulder sniff



Regardless of the occasion, when Joe’s allowed to tuck his nose into Jos’ neck, and sniff at his shoulder (bear with him, okay), the hug is bound to be a fucking good one.

It can be a strong hug or a more casual one, depending on the occasion. But it’s all about the way it makes him feel. Every moment that passes while he’s in Jos’ arms like this is one he would like to stay in forever.

It’s just so perfect, so comfortable, and so _loving_ that it almost hurts.

Like when Jos wins the match for them, in their first test against Pakistan. (Jos and Chris, but Joe didn’t exactly let go of Jos at all- and he was only really worrying about one of the batsmen at that crease, and it wasn’t Jonny’s boyfriend.)

The moment Chris hit the winning runs, Jos hurries up the stairs, bat, gloves and helmet still in hand. As he reaches the top, Joe’s standing there waiting for him- and as though the younger just knows what he needs, Joe tugs him in close.

It’s a bit of an awkward angle, but _fuck_ is it good. Joe’s fingers scrabble for purchase at his back, over his shirt, and when he pushes his face into Jos’ shoulder to breathe, the scent of grass and Jos’ body wash and a hint of sunscreen and sweat- Joe wonders if he could be any prouder- if he could be any more in _love._

The best part is that this hug is solely for them.

They’re both extremely tactile people, really, the whole team is. They’re very tight-knitted, so hugs are almost a daily occurrence. But the way Joe tucks his face into Jos’ neck and shoulders, while Jos makes sure he has a hand free to run over Joe’s back- no one else hugs like that. This is the hug they give to each other when they’re proud of each other, or when they’ve had a tough day, or want to tell the other that they’ve been missed. It’s short for _thank god you’re okay,_ a sign for _I’m proud of you_ and a way of showing _I adore you._

(Later, when they’re about to fall asleep in their hotel room, Jos turns to him and says “I was battling for that, you know.” Joe doesn’t get it immediately, and he looks at him with a perplexed expression. Jos rolls his eyes before explaining himself. “That hug you gave me, I knew that if I could just get us there, that I’d actually deserve it.” Joe tucks himself closer and takes another breath in from Jos’ shoulder. The keeper laughs, only extremely slightly unsteadily, and tips his head back in solace.)

  1. Hugging during sleep



While Joe has always known that he’s in love with Jos, there was one moment where he wondered- _does Jos actually love me too? How would I even know?_

When they’d had their first _bad_ fight, and Jos didn’t come home. The first thought, the only thought, was that _Jos doesn’t love me anymore._

Sure, Ben is in his ear immediately with a ’shut the fuck up and go to sleep, it’s one argument, he just needs time’ and Mark also filling in with a ‘JOE. YOU HAVE BEEN DANCING AROUND EACH OTHER FOR YEARS, WILL YOU TELL YOUR BRAIN TO SHUT UP’.

Until he’s brought awake from a fitful sleep at 2 am, by a familiar but somehow _foreign_ feeling.

When he finally gets his bearings, he realises where he is. Bracketed in Jos’ arms, with the keeper’s face buried firmly against his back. Jos is not asleep, but he’s calm and seems almost relieved. Joe can tell from the steady breaths that he _feels_ rather than hears.

Jos _had_ come home. And rather than going and slipping into the spare room, or sleeping on the couch, or staying on his side of the bed as he might have done in anger- he’s pressed against him, held him securely in his arms.

He can’t bring himself to disturb the peace, but he can feel his heart beating a little too fast, and wills it to calm down before the sheer force of it disturbs Jos.

Unfortunately, he’s not quick enough, and the keeper seems to notice the change in homeostasis immediately. Although, unfortunately, might be a bit of an incorrectly used term, because all Jos does, is tighten his arms around him, and squeeze gently. “S’just me, Joey.”

Now, look. Joe’s aware that Jos gives good hugs, alright. Nothing new. But this is different. This is better than an ‘I am so fucking proud of you’, and it’s even better than a ‘fuck have I missed you.’ It’s warm and familiar in that it’s _Jos,_ but it’s like he’s being protected, cherished and apologised to all in one.

“Just? Could never be _just_ you Jossa.”

“I make you angry, I upset you, and you still think like that?”

Joe’s hand finds it’s way to his keeper’s clutching softly. “Is the sky blue?”

The little puff of air against his spine sends shivers across his back, goosebumps rising as Jos’ lips press against the bone. “I think a better way to make your point, would be to ask, ‘do you love me?’”

It’s too late in the night, and Joe’s too busy being relieved that he’s in Jos’ arms to handle this much Higher Order Thinking. “Huh?”

“The sky turns orange sometimes, and occasionally it’s pink.” Joe still doesn’t seem to be following. Jos nudges his nose against Joe’s spine in a show of playfulness. “The sky isn’t always blue. But I will always love you.”

“You’re a sap.”

Jos doesn’t protest. He doesn’t make any sort of sound to disagree. All he does is tug Joe closer, further into his chest, to hug him tighter.

Joe decides right then and there that this kind of hug beats anything else. This is his favourite. And from now on, Joe is going to make it a mandatory addition to their daily routine.

“But I love you. Please don’t let go.”

“Not for as long as I love you.”

“Shut up and close your eyes, Joseph.” There’s a cheeky grin against his neck, accompanied by another press of lips before they’re both comfortable enough to fall asleep.

[Joe’s more than convinced when he wakes up eight hours later, and Jos’ arm is still hooked over his hip, and the keeper’s face is still nestled into his back. Jos loves him. Not that there was any real doubt, but sometimes he needs a reminder.]


End file.
